With
weekly service starting at $36 for a large bag that holds up to three loads,
Davis said her business has grown every week since she opened this spring.

“Nobody
likes to do their own laundry. And if you’re going to be involved in the
service business, you need to do something that people don’t want to do for
themselves,” she said.

Hannah
Ungricht of Richland has been using the service for a few months and she’s a
believer.

“The
ease of never having to leave my house has made this a service I can’t live
without. Richelle ironed all of my husband’s work clothes and with a newborn at
home, this was such a major relief to me. She made it easy and quick. Richelle
is personable and professional. I would recommend her to anyone. And honestly,
seeing the clothes on their hangers and in the nice plastic bags made my heart
leap with joy,” Ungricht said.

Davis
said she comes from a family of entrepreneurs involved in multiple businesses.
“I’ve always known that’s just the way to go for me,” she said.

After
past careers as a hair dresser and a preschool teacher, she brainstormed with
her mother to come up with a business she could undertake on her own.

“I
am big on filling needs in the market and we needed a laundry service. There
are zero pickup and delivery services here,” Davis said. “I’m good with
laundry. I’m good with learning things I need to learn and how to be good at
whatever I need to be good at, so I went for it.”

After
starting out with a standard washer and dryer based out of her Richland home,
Davis is already looking at expanding due to immediate demand.

She
said word of mouth has been strong and she isn’t just doing laundry for
families, but has a number of commercial accounts for the health care industry,
massage therapists and long-haul truckers. Even companies who fly in corporate
executives use her 24-hour express service while in town temporarily.

Unhampered
Laundry differs from a dry cleaner by offering pickup and delivery and also the
service of washing clothes versus dry cleaning.

“It’s
quite expensive for a dry cleaner to do your laundry because that’s not their
specialty. That’s kind of a side service for them, whereas that’s my main
service,” Davis said. “You can save money by going through me, but you also get
the pickup and delivery. Big cities have this service but we hadn’t gotten
there yet.”

To
start service with Unhampered Laundry, Davis meets with a customer in person to
assess the amount of laundry needing to be cleaned and delivers the bags for
clothes and linens to be picked up in.

Clients
sign a damage waiver and complete a detailed questionnaire on preferences.

For the first visit, a customer must be home, but after that, laundry can be left outside the door and returned to the same spot cleaned, folded uniformly and wrapped in commercial-grade plastic wrap, grouping like items together so customers just needs to unwrap and put away.

“If
they want me to never use hot water or if they use softener, or no softener,
scented or unscented, so it’s done exactly the way they like,” Davis said. “We
decide if everything’s going to be folded or hung. All of that is included. If
I provide the hangers, it’s 20 cents a hanger. If they provide the hangers, that
service is included.”

For
the first visit, a customer must be home, but after that, laundry can be left
outside the door and returned to the same spot cleaned, folded uniformly and
wrapped in commercial-grade plastic wrap, grouping like items together so
customers just needs to unwrap and put away.

“I haven’t had an unhappy customer. I haven’t had anyone
try it and not continue,” Davis said. Items returned on hangers are covered in
plastic garment bags.

For
an additional $10, Davis will drop off and pick up dry cleaning at your
preferred location so that the entire experience is a one-stop laundry service.

She’ll
also iron clothes for $2 per item. Large bedding is extra, too.

“I’m
one of those people who enjoys vacuum lines in carpet and making sure things
are done really perfectly,” she said.

She
just has less time for her own family’s laundry. “I’m left to do it late at
night or on the weekends,” she said.